Friends till the end
by 1sonicdashrainbow
Summary: Vipers successfully took over Keron, and Keronians fled to Pekopon in order to escape, but that backfires when Vipers follow. When Putata and his family are ran out of their home, they meet Shurara and his companions, one of them turning out to be Putata's long lost friend, Mekeke. How will all of this turn out?
1. Prologue

_Stuffed._

_That's how Anono could describe the airport he, his family, and almost every Keronian on Keron were in. Vipers were successfully taking over Keron, the Keron Army ordering Keronians to go to the space port so they could be taken to a planet called Pekopon. His mother was dragging him, barely keeping up. His own hand was dragging someone else, his best friend. Suddenly the weight he was dragging disappeared._

_He wanted to turn around to see what happened, but his mother was still dragging him. He wanted his mother to stop so he could look for his friend, but she always disagreed with him. The next thing Anono knew, he was in a spaceship about to take off with his mother and brother sitting beside him. He stood up for a moment, hoping to see his friend safe and sound, then sat back down when he didn't see his friend._

_As the ship took off, he looked out the window, Keron slowly growing tinier and tinier until it was just a star amongst the other stars._

_His brother spoke, "Mama, what's Pekopon like?"_

_"When your father returned from a mission to see what Pekopon was like, he told be all the things he saw. He told me that it was a beautiful blue planet, that it almost felt like home to him. This was before you were born, Siroro." His mother responded, with a hint of nostalgia in her voice._

_Anono heard that his father was an honorable man, the type of person who would risk life and limb to protect the people he loved. Anono never met his father, only seeing him in pictures. Instead of going with his family, he decided to stay on Keron to protect the planet._

_"Mama," he asked, "Do you think _he's_ going to be alright?"_

_His mother apparently knew he wasn't talking about his father, "He's going to be alright sweetie, hopefully someone took him on their airship."_

_Anono doubted that. He looked to the window opposite of his, and saw a blue planet coming into distance. He guessed it was Pekopon. He looked out his own window again, and said, "Goodbye Keron."_

_In an even quieter voice, almost a whisper, he said, "Goodbye... Mekeke."_

"Mama, I'm back!" Siroro, now a fully grown Keronian, said.

"Ah, good. Did you find anything?" His mother replied.

"No." The gray Keronian said sadly. It was getting harder and harder to find things to survive. When the Keronians fled to Pekopon, the Vipers followed them, eventually creating waste to the planet and causing a three way war. For some, it was every man for himself. A lot of people lived in underground homes so no one could find them, though some preferred to travel like nomads.

Siroro walked into his little brother's room. He had changed a lot over the years. He had changed his name to Putata, put colorful tattoos on his body, and changed his hat to one with bolts. He was painting something with a giant paintbrush he had. Siroro and his mother was never fond of art, but ever since they came to Pekopon, they decided not to bother him about how he shouldn't do art anymore since it really didn't matter anymore.

"Hey lil' bro, whatcha doin' there?"

"Nothing." Putata responded.

"Yeah, certainly looks like 'nothing'." Siroro chuckled. His relationship with his brother had progressed over the years. When they were little, Siroro despised Putata and Putata despised him. They were exact opposites, so it was natural they would hate each other, but ever since the war started, their relationship had improved a bit. He left the room. That's when the door knocked.

"Siroro sweetie, can you get that? We might have some people who need shelter." His mother told.

"Sure thing." Siroro went to the door, opened it, and what met his face wasn't travelers. It was Vipers. Siroro immediately closed the door and locked it. "Mama, I don't think they need shelter."

Before she could respond, a Viper sounded, "Open up!" And he banged on the door.

"We need to get out of here now!" Siroro panickly said. It was rare for Vipers to find underground homes, but it was possible. The gray Keronian rushed into Putata's room, but he was gone.

At least until his voice sounded from the other room, "Guys, in here!" Siroro and his mother rushed in the room Putata's voice sounded from, the banging on the front door getting louder and more frequent. When they got in there, Putata was painting a circle on the wall.

His mother shook her head, "Anono," she said, not using his current name, "how is painting a circle on the wall going to help us escape?"

"Trust me." Putata replied. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly a hole appeared. Siroro wanted to ask how he did that, but there was no time. He immediately crawled into it, along with his two family members. Then it got dark.

"Hey, who turned off the lights!?"

"I had to block the hole so they don't follow us, dummy head!"

"Whatever."

They continued to crawl through darkness until the tunnel sloped upwards, and came upon a dead end.

"Uh, lil' bro? I think we're at a dead end."

"Don't worry yo, I can make another hole, just let me get up there."

Putata squeezed through his mother and brother, and painted another circle where the dead end was. A snap of fingers was heard, and sudden light busted through the darkness. They all had to cover their eyes for a second before getting used to the light again. They crawled out, one by one.

They looked at the bleak landscape, smoke rising from certain places, the sky covered in gray clouds.

"Well, we've been driven out of our home, but at least it can't get any worse!" Putata said, right before a hard downpour came, soaking the three Keronians.

"It can Anono. It can get worse."


	2. A Lost Friend Found

They traveled through the cold, soaking rain for days. Their mother leaned against Siroro, shivering while her lips were blue. When they tried to stop and rest, the thought of one of them dying in the middle of the night terrified them, so they continued traveling. They were lost in a forest, which was surprisingly not destroyed. Putata thought they were never going to get out, until something aside from trees. It was a house, much like a mansion. No, looked more like a mansion sized castle.

"Hey, there's shelter over there! Come on!" Putata exclaimed, grabbing both Siroro's and his mother's hand and practically dragging them to the mansion. When they got to the entrance, Putata slowly opened the doors. "Huh, it's much bigger on the inside."

It was a little dark, and from the outside it looked like the mansion was old, probably years old, but there wasn't one leak through the roof. There was a staircase, and at top of it was a portrait of someone. He had a helmet, one side silver and the other gold. One of his eyes were blue and the other was yellow.

'_Hm, his eyes are different colors, just like mine.' _Putata thought, his own eyes being yellow and orange. He walked around a bit, looking in bedrooms and closets while Siroro let their mother rest on the stairs.

"Uh, lil' bro? I don't think we should be here. Makes me feel like we're breaking and entering in someone's home." Siroro said.

"Don't worry, if anybody did live here, then they'd stay here. Seriously, who'd be crazy enough to go into the pouring rain?" Putata replied. "Hey look, blankets!" He exclaimed. He threw them towards his older brother and told him to give them to their mother.

Their mother was on the verge of falling asleep, she was constantly trying to keep her head up. "I think we should rest. There are beds here, right?" Siroro questioned.

"Yeah, and I agree yo. I'm pretty tired too." Putata replied. Siroro led his mother to one of the bedrooms for her to rest while he went in another to do same and Putata went in the room closet to him. It was pretty plain, there was a nightstand, a bed, white walls, and a desk. There was a puppet on it, presumably a work in progress. Putata sat on the bad, and felt nostalgia at it's comfiness, not having felt this feeling since he was a tadpole. As he lied down, sleep immediately overtook him, feeling as if were sleeping on a cloud.

"Kagege, tell me _again _why you thought this was a good idea, heading out in the rain to give the poor warm coffee cans? Besides, Nuii's soaked! She can barely walk anymore!"

"So they wouldn't be cold if they were stuck in the rain, Gyororo! And don't worry, when we get home we'll dry her off."

"And _why_ didn't we have any spare coffee cans to keep _us _warm?"

"Would you two shut up?! Shurara and I just as cold as you are!"

"No you're not Mekeke! You have a smock! Besides, the one of us who's _really _cold is Yukiki. And Giruru and Dokuku are immune to cold, except in winter, when Giruru becomes a statue."

"Shut up!"

"How about all of you shut up! See, we're almost home, I can see the mansion."

8 Keronians were walking through the pouring rain. Their names were Shurara, Mekeke, Giruru, Dokuku, Gyororo, Nuii, Yukiki, and Kagege.

Shurara was wearing a helmet, one side silver and the other gold. On one hand was a shield, the other was a lance. His symbol looked like his helmet. His skin was two colors, purple and green. One of his eyes were blue and the other was yellow.

Mekeke was wearing a smock, an eyepatch, and a hat the covered the majority of his face. His only eye was a bright yellow. His skin was a shade of teal, and his symbol was a cross in a circle.

Giruru and Dokuku, well, there wasn't much about them. For one, Giruru was pure liquid and Dokuku was pure gas. They both had only one eye, like Mekeke. Giruru's was yellow and Dokuku's was a ghostly shade of blue. Giruru didn't have a visible mouth while it looked like Dokuku's mouth was stitched shut, the same with his other eye. Dokuku had two little orange sprites following him, and one of his arms looked like a scythe. Giruru's symbol looked like a swirl on water and Dokuku's symbol looked like the little sprites.

Gyororo was a little… odd. He had 7 red eyes, his symbol was one of them. His hat flaps and, what was supposed to be a normal tadpole tail, was abnormally long and at the of it was an eye too.

Nuii was like a living doll. No, she _was _a living doll. Her faces was stuck in an eternal surprised expression. It was obvious she was a doll though, the stitches that connected the cloth on her body together viewable.

Yukiki looked like the common snowman. A carrot nose, gloves, stick arms, and a scarf were noticeable, but instead of the normal top hat, he wore a bucket hat on his head. His symbol was a snowman.

Kagege looked abnormal, his skin was white and his belly skin was purple, as if a normal color palette for a Keronian was switched around. There were flame like marks on his hands and face. He bore a purple scarf on his neck. Like Giruru, Dokuku and Mekeke, he too had one eye, but it looked a little like Mekeke's symbol. He had ears that resembled hat flaps, therefore he had no need for a hat. And just like Giruru and Dokuku, he had no visible mouth.

They finally got to the mansion, Shurara attempted to open the door, but for some reason, it was already cracked open.

"Man, I can't wait to-!" Gyororo was about to say something until Shurara shushed him.

"Shh! I think there's someone in the house." He whispered.

"Really?! Oh no, what if it robbers? Or Vipers?!" Mekeke was starting to panic.

Shurara ignored him and looked through the crack before throwing the door open. There was nobody there.

Dokuku let out some dokus, since that was the only thing he could say, and Giruru translated it to, "Maybe we just left the door open."

"Check the bedrooms. They may be in there." Shurara ordered. Mekeke cautiously walked to his room, the others doing the same thing. He slowly opened the door, and saw someone sleeping on his bed. He slowly walked up to the stranger, and poked his face.

The stranger let out a few grumbles before turning his head and flickered his eyes open. He stared at Mekeke for a moment before letting out a scream.

"H-hey! What're you doing here!?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here what are you doing here?! And what are you doing sleeping on my bed?!"

"Your bed!? I didn't even know anyone lived here!"

"Was the desk too obvious?!"

They screamed at each other for a minute or so until Shurara sounded, "Mekeke, bring the intruder down here!"

"Coming!" Without giving the stranger a word, he pulled him downstairs, where the rest of the team members were, including two other strangers. They lined the three intruders in a line.

"Alright now, talk! Tell us why you're here. Are you here to steal? Or are you planning to exploit us to the enemy?" Shurara barked.

The one in the middle, a female, was the first to speak, though her voice sounded weak, "We were driven out of our home by Vipers, and we've traveled through the rain since. Then my son here found this mansion, and we desperately needed shelter. We truly believed no one lived here. We just need a place to stay."

Just when the team was feeling sympathy for the strangers, Gyororo walked up to them and said, "Yeah right! You're just probably making that up so Vipers can come and kidnap us and turn us into-" He was cut off by the Keronian Mekeke found in his room.

"You think she would lie? She's sick for frog's sake!"

"Pfft, she doesn't look sick. You're probably lying too." Gyororo said snarkily.

"Why you little-!"

"Stop! Gyororo, it is not your decision to decide whether they're lying or not! It's mine. And I believe her story and that she's sick. Kagege, make them and us something warm eat. Yukiki, get medicine for the lady. We'll settle if they should stay or not tomorrow." Shurara requested.

"Ah, thank you for your kindness, um, what's your name?" The female asked.

"Shurara."

"Ah, thank you for your kindness, Shurara-san."

Shurara blushed a little under his helmet. No one ever used that honorific on him before. "Y-you're welcome, madam."

Putata could not believe it. His family broke into someone's home and slept in their beds, and now they were getting warm food from the people who lived in it. They all ate in awkward silence, the multi-eyed Keronian - Gyororo - kept giving suspicious glances. It was creepy. The snowman - Yukiki - had gotten medicine for his mother and was now drinking some water. He probably couldn't eat warm or hot stuff, since he was made of snow. The liquid guy was pretty weird, the guy with the scarf - Kagege -was normal in terms of attitude and personality, the one with the eyepatch was probably the only one who looked normal.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, they all (well, the ones who could actually digest something) finished eating, and retired to their bedrooms, for it had quickly turned to night. Shurara previously told them that there were no spare bedrooms, so he allowed them to sleep in whoever's bedroom they wanted. Siroro was going to sleep in Kagege's room, his mother was going to sleep in Gyororo's room, much to the tadpole's annoyment, and Putata decided he was going to sleep in the one with the eyepatch's room.

He entered the room quietly, and found him sitting at the desk, working on the puppet. "Uh, hi." The other was so focused on his work he didn't notice Putata come in, thus Putata's greeting startled him, causing him to jump a little in his seat. "Oh, sorry-"

"No no, it's alright, you're fine."

Putata sat on the bed, still loving the soft feel. He closed his eyes for a minute, and then heard, "Alright, I think I'm done! Hey, close your eyes!"

"But my eyes are already closed."

"Then keep them closed!"

Putata did was he was told. He heard some shuffling, then heard, "Alright, you can open your eyes now!" When he did, he was met with a wooden face. Surprisingly, he didn't flinch, only widened his eyes in surprise. "Hehe, aren't you surprised?"

"Did you make this yourself?" Putata asked.

"Yeah!"

"Impressive. How long did it take?"

"Two years."

That long? Putata was surprised. He thought puppets were easy to make. He got a good look at the puppet and realized it looked like the one controlling it, except for the blonde sideburns and extra limbs. He looked at the ceiling and saw that there were no visible strings. Or visible controller. "Hey, where'd you go?"

"I'm invisible."

"Do you have your invisibility on?"

"No."

"Huh? Then how are you doing that?!"

"Don't know. It's just something I can do naturally I guess. Hey, take that can of spray paint and spray me."

Putata took the orange spray paint can the disembodied voice told him to take and sprayed him. His body instantly reappeared, though now his black and teal color scheme was now completely orange. He dropped to the floor, the puppet rattling a bit as it fell too. He took a towel that was nearby and wiped the substance off, then walked over to a closet, took off his smock and hat and almost immediately replaced them with another pair. Then Putata realized he didn't know the guy's name yet.

As the other sat down on the bed beside Putata, he asked, "So, what's your name?"

The other looked at him before saying, "My name is Mekeke. And what's yours?"

Putata froze when the other told him his name. That wasn't a name he had heard in a long time. Then a single thought ran through his mind, _'He's alive... I can't believe it. I thought he was dead... My friend...'_ He just wanted to cry now. Then a depressing thought invaded his mind, _'What if... he doesn't remember me? It was so long ago that I saw him, the last time I saw him was on Keron. Yeah, he probably doesn't remember me at all...'_

"Hey, something wrong?" Mekeke's voice sounded, and Putata remembered that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"Oh, nothing, just thought that name rang a bell. And my name's Putata." Putata finally introduced himself.

"Ah. Well, nice to meet you." Mekeke responded, putting his hand up. Putata guessed he wanted to shake hands.

_'Nice to _see _you, Mekeke.' _He thought as he shook his long lost friend's hand.

That night felt pretty… _strange_ to Putata. He was in a bed with his best friend, with his back to the other, with said other's arms wrapped loosely around him. He could barely sleep.

'_Urgh, this is the worst. Here I am, lying in bed with my best friend while he's trying to cuddle me, and he probably doesn't remember who I am.' _Putata thought to himself. He sighed, then slowly closed his eyes.

'_And the baddest thing is that… I love him. And I've known that since childhood. And it wasn't just some silly crush! I felt real love for him, even if I didn't understand how love worked then. But were both males! That's not right! It's not natural for a man to love another man! Besides, it's probably just one-sided.'_ He was ranting in his mind when Mekeke moved closer to him, faintly feeling Mekeke's face in his side. Putata tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He slowly moved from the bed, careful not to wake Mekeke up.

He opened the door quietly, and saw his brother at the table they had eaten at earlier. "Hey, what're you doing up?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep. It felt weird sleeping with a guy." Siroro responded.

They sat in quietness when Putata spoke, "Uh, Siroro? Do you remember that friend I had on Keron? You know the one I lost when we left for Pekopon?"

"Yeah I remember him. What about it?"

"I...I found him."

Siroro was obviously surprised, his voice gave that away, "Wait, really?!" Then he returned it to it's normal tone, "Where'd you find him?" Putata simply pointed to the room he was in. "Wow." Siroro simply said. Then noticed his little brother's expression, "Hey, lil' bro, why are you making that face? Shouldn't you be like, you know, happy that you found your friend that you haven't seen for years?"

"No, I _am _happy! In fact, I'm thrilled I found him! But the thing is that he probably doesn't remember me. It was so long ago, there's no doubt someone probably stepped all over him or he hit his head on the floor when he was knocked down in that space port." Putata explained. Siroro nodded, understanding his worry.

Then Siroro noticed something strange about that, "Wait, if you think he has no memory of you, then why not just try to bring back his memory?"

"I just- I want to see if he can figure it out. He's smart, he always has been. Besides, maybe sometime in the future, he'll regain it." Putata replied. "Oh, and when Mama wakes up, can you tell her to start calling me by my current name and not 'Anono'? I don't want the others to think that my name is just what I'm calling myself so I can earn their trust and then betray them later." He added.

"... Alright."


	3. Flying for the first time

The next morning, at breakfast, everyone introduced them to each other.

"I should properly introduce you guys to my teammates," Shurara said. "This is Mekeke,"

"Hi," Mekeke said, raising his hand in the air and moving it in a waving motion. Putata thought he gave him a quick glance, but just passed it off as his imagination.

"Gyororo,"

"Yo," The multi-eyed Keronian said, raising his hand in the air and quickly putting it back down.

"Giruru and Dokuku,"

"Hey," Giruru said, raising his hand and putting it down like Gyororo did.

"Doku," Dokuku said, putting his scythe hand up. Giruru translated it to him saying hello.

"Nuii,"

"H-hello," The little doll said shyly, though her expression didn't change.

"Yukiki,"

"Hi," The snowman said, raising his hand and waving it slightly.

"Kagege,"

"Nice to meet your acquaintance," Kagege bowed to them as if he were approaching royalty, seemingly the only one who greeted them with politeness.

"And… uh, where's Robobo?" Shurara asked.

"Probably working on some damn thing, like always." Giruru responded, annoyance clear in his voice.

Putata then noticed the door on the wall that supported the upper floor. It seemed to be painted the same color as the wall, as if it were a hidden room or something. Shurara opened the hidden door, and went in. There were some shuffling sounds, and then the sound of metal walking up stairs sounded. Putata was growing tense, and his family was tense too. What exactly would come up the stairs?

What came up… wasn't what they expected. It just looked like a robot Keronian with magnets for hands. He just stared at them, as if he were observing them. Then he walked back down in his lab.

"Yeah, Robobo isn't really much of a talker. When he meets someone new, he usually just scans them and inserts their data in him and goes back to his lab." Shurara said, rubbing the back of his head. What he said gave the implication they has given people shelter before.

"Well, we better introduce ourselves. This is my oldest son, Siroro," their mother said, gesturing to Siroro, "and my youngest son, A-"

Siroro and Putata quickly clamped their hands on her mouth, as she was about to say Anono.

"Putata! My name is Putata." The yellow Keronian said, giving a (fake) smile. Gyororo narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

"Mama, I almost forgot to tell you, you're going to have to call lil' bro by Putata now." Siroro said quietly through clenched teeth.

"What's your name?" Mekeke asked.

Putata and Siroro took their hands off their mother's mouth so she could answer, "My name is a personal thing, but it's fine with me if you call me 'Miss'."

The rest of the day was pretty normal after the introductions. The small family of three talked with the others. Putata didn't get along with Gyororo, but he got along very well with Nuii and Dokuku (even if he couldn't understand the ghost like figure), though Putata mostly talked to Mekeke. Shurara seemed to become fast friends with his mother, and his brother got along with Kagege and Giruru. Putata mostly saw Siroro talking to Giruru about him and Giruru talking about Dokuku. Putata overheard that Giruru and Dokuku were subjected to government experiments after being accused of a crime, which he found horrible.

The day turned to night, and everyone was retiring to their bedrooms. As Putata was about to enter Mekeke's room, he saw out of the corner of his eye Mekeke entering the secret door to Robobo's lab. He slowly descended the stairs so he could see what the teal Keronian was doing.

When Mekeke reappeared, he had something on his back, like a backpack. He was just about to leave when Putata called out, "Wait!" Mekeke froze immediately. "What are you doing?"

Mekeke nervously turned around, "Uh… going for a walk?" he responded.

Putata was unconvinced, and gave him a hard stare, "Then what's that?" he asked, looking to the thing on Mekeke's back.

"Uh, supplies?" Mekeke replied sheepishly. Putata still gave Mekeke the hard stare. "Ugh, fine. It's a flight pack."

"A what?"

"A wing pack. At least, that's what I call it. It lets me fly, in a simple explanation." Mekeke explained. "Hm, wait just one second." he ran to Robobo's lab again, and came back with another wing pack. Before Putata could ask what he was doing, the other strapped the device on Putata's back and dragged him to the back of the mansion, where a ladder lay. He climbed it, while practically dragging Putata up it, and ended up on the roof.

He pressed a button on his pack, and pink fairy-like wings appeared. He ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped off. Putata gasped, expecting him to fall, but instead Mekeke floated there, even though the wings weren't flapping.

Mekeke turned around, "See? I'm just fine. Now it's your turn!"

"W-what? Oh, I'm just fine staying on the ground, y'know, where I don't have a chance of dying a horrible death." Putata said, giving a nervous smile, slowly moving his feet backwards.

"Hey, if you fall, I _promise _to catch you, alright? Besides, there's nothing to be afraid of, just concentrate on where you're going and you'll be fine." Mekeke replied. He floated back down the roof and walked behind Putata. He pressed a button on the other's wing pack, and the wings on his own appeared. Before the odd eyed Keronian could reply, Mekeke took his hands and lifted them above his head, and floated up, bringing Putata along with him.

He lifted him up high enough that if he did fall, he wouldn't break anything in his body. He slowly swang Putata, the other keeping a death like grip on Mekeke's arms. "OK, are you ready?" He asked. Putata gulped and made a 'mmhm' noise. "OK, on the count of three. One… two... "

Suddenly it seemed as if Putata changed his mind, "W-w-w-w-wait! I'm suddenly not so-" but it was too late.

"THREE!" Mekeke threw the now terrified Keronian. Putata closed his eyes, legitimately terrified. When he didn't feel his body crashing on the ground, he opened one eye, and then the other, and found himself floating just like Mekeke was. He chuckled and smiled, surprised at how scared he was.

"So, how does it feel to fly?" Mekeke asked.

"It feels awesome! It does feel a little weird not being on the ground, but I'll get used to it." Putata replied, genuinely smiling.

"Great! Now come on, it's better to actually start flying than floating here!" Mekeke happily cried out, doing a couple somersaults before flying towards the sky. Putata followed after him, feeling the thrill of flying for the first time. He flew past the clouds, and a burst of light is what met him. It wasn't very bright though.

"Woah, the moon…" Putata admired, for he had never seen the moon ever since Vipers invaded Pekopon. Since then clouds had covered the sky, blocking out any light from the sky.

"Hey, what'cha lookin' at the moon for?" Mekeke asked, as he were suddenly right next to Putata.

"I haven't seen the moon for a long time," Putata replied as he looked up, "or the stars."

Mekeke looked up too, "Yeah, the stars and moon sure are pretty. Do they remind you of Keron?"

"Yeah."

Mekeke sighed, "Some of my worst memories are on Keron."

'_Oh yeah, that's right. His mother died in a house fire and his father was killed by an ex teammate, then he was taken in by this other alien who taught him puppetry but hurt him for every little mistake he made. If I remember correctly, he lost an eye because they hit him with the eye with a cross.' _Putata said to himself in his mind.

"Do you plan to go home after the Vipers are defeated and this war is over?" The yellow Keronian asked.

"No, not really." said Mekeke, "Shurara and the others, they're like my family. When I met them, I was lost in a desert, passed out, beat up by thugs so they could take all the supplies I had, and about to die from heat, until Kagege, Gyororo, and Shurara found me. They took me in, fed me, gave me water. It was the most family like feeling I ever felt for years. Eventually, I decided to stay with them. I mean, I had no where to go."

"Wow." Putata simply said.

"I actually kinda hope you and your family stay. You have no where to go, don't you?"

Putata shook his head.

"Yep, that's what I thought. Shurara usually takes people, Keronian or Pekoponian, in, whether if they're lost, about to die, or looking for shelter. A majority of them leave, sadly." Mekeke explained.

Putata didn't know what to say.

"Well, come on! We aren't just gonna stand here all night and talk!" Mekeke exclaimed, a smile reforming on his face, before flying off.

Putata flew after him, his own smile returning also. It felt like the most fun he ever had since, well, his entire life! They flew around each other for what felt like miles, as if they were penguins swimming in water. They giggled and laughed all through the night.

Eventually Putata was chasing Mekeke who was flying backwards. He was having fun until the teal Keronian's wings disappeared, and fell.

Putata gasped, "Mekeke!" And raced towards where Mekeke originally was. As he got there, Mekeke popped up from the clouds, a huge smile on his face.

"Got ya!" He exclaimed as he chuckled.

"Hey, that wasn't funny!" Putata yelled, anger growing inside him.

"It was a joke!" Mekeke responded, trying to defend himself.

"Well it didn't seem like a joke to me! I thought you actually fell! Do you realize how stupid that was!?" Putata yelled again, his face contorting into anger.

"I said it was a joke!" Mekeke said, "It's supposed to be… funny…" he finally noticed Putata's expression. His face was red, his hands balled into fists, showing clear anger, but tears pricked his eyes, and his lower lip quivered. Before long, he saw a couple tears roll down his face until Putata turned around and wiped his eyes, letting out quiet sobs. Mekeke then realized that his little 'joke' had actually hurt Putata, and he put his hand on the other's shoulder, "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt you." Mekeke tugged at his shoulder, trying to turn him around, "Come on now, I didn't mean to make you cry."

He was finally able to turn Putata around. His face and eyes were red, tears stained his cheeks, and he was biting his lower lip. "Do… do you mean it?" He asked in a sad, quiet voice.

"Yes, I do mean it." Mekeke spoke flatly.

"And… do you promise not to do it again?" Putata asked.

"I promise not to do it again." Mekeke promised.

He was surprised when Putata hugged him and buried his face in his chest while letting out a muffled, "_Thank you!"_

"H-hey! Why are you so happy now?! You were crying just a minute ago!" Mekeke cried out, startled.

"I don't know! I'm just happy you apologized!" Putata exclaimed, the biggest smile on his face. Mekeke chuckled, happy that the other was happy too, for some reason. Then Putata yawned and rubbed his eyes, "I'm tired, let's go back to the mansion."

Mekeke then realized how tired he actually was, and he agreed. They both flew back to the mansion, Mekeke holding Putata's hand incase he fell asleep on the way back. When they got home, they took off the wing packs, gave them back to Robobo, and went to their bedroom. Putata fell asleep the moment his body was set on the bed, which was bad because only the upper half of his body was there. Mekeke slightly smiled as he got on the bed and adjusted Putata's body so he was laying properly on the bed.

As he positioned himself on the bed, he faced Putata. For some reason, there was a strange adorability to his face. His mouth was slightly open, and was breathing softly. Mekeke quietly chuckled and smiled as he softly traced the orange tattoo on his right eye. He quietly whispered, "Good night, Putata." as he closed his eye and the familiar feeling of sleep overtook him and his senses.


	4. Kidnapped

The following week was great. Putata's family had decided to stay with the others, since they had no where to go, which made Mekeke very happy. Mekeke very much enjoyed the time he spent with Putata, it made him have this weird feeling of happiness. Putata sometimes talked to the others. Sometimes he talked to Giruru about his brother while Giruru talked about his own brother. Sometimes he hanged out with Kagege, and he found out that Kagege could control shadows, which he found cool. He didn't talk with Gyororo much.

Then, at the end of the week, Shurara announced something.

"Alright, today we're going out to test our new members scouting ability." He had said.

Gyororo complained, "What? We just went out a week ago!"

Shurara didn't care. They prepared items, and he assigned partners. He was with Miss, Putata was with Mekeke, Giruru was with Kagege, Gyororo was with Nuii, Siroro was with Dokuku, and Yukiki was unfortunately by himself. They exited the mansion, and they split.

"Uh, why are we splitting up?" Putata asked.

"We have a bigger chance of finding items if we split up." Mekeke replied.

They found their way out of the forest, and they traveled a ways away from the forest, until Mekeke said, "Alright, I'll go this way, and you go this way."

Putata was about to ask why until he remembered that splitting up meant a bigger chance of finding items. He went the way Mekeke told him to go, for some reason finding it familiar, until he reached a door. It was most likely the door to someone's home. Without checking if someone lived there, he entered. He immediately recognized it as his old home. Everything was still as it was. He checked his room, everything still there. He was surprised the Vipers had taken nothing. He went into his mother's room, everything was also still there.

He took a look around. On the ground was a blanket and pillow, which could be barely called a bed. There was also a night stand, with a picture. He picked it up and smiled. It was a picture of his father holding Siroro as a baby with his mother beside him, her stomach very distended. Putata knew it had been taken before he was born. He wished there was picture of himself with his mother, brother, and father. But for some reason, a lot of the members of the Keron Army got ill, so his father filled for all of them. Putata's only way to see his father's face was through pictures, desperately wishing to meet his father in person.

As he set the picture down, he felt something hit the back of his head, his vision fading. The last thing he was the familiar figures of Vipers.

Everything went black.

When Putata's eyes opened, his face was facing a floor. He stood up, the _click clank_ of chains sounded, seeing that his ankles were chained to the floor. As he got a good look around the room, Putata knew he was in a jail. At least, it looked like it. There was a window with bars behind him, a bed with simple white sheets and a pillow, in front of him was a door with bars acting like a window. He tried to walk forward to the door, but the chains weren't long enough to accomplish that, unfortunately.

He then heard a voice, "Looks like you're finally awake. Was almost starting to think we hit you too hard in the head." Putata knew exactly who said it.

"_Viper._" Was the only thing he said,

Viper scoffed, "Isn't it obvious? It should be also obvious we kidnapped you, if you didn't realize."

Of course Putata knew, but a question popped in his mind, "Where are my friends?"

"Hm?"

"I said, '_where are my friends?'"_

"Them? They're alright. We only kidnapped you, since you were the only one at that location."

Putata knew Viper meant his old house. '_They must've ambushed me when I was distracted.' _He thought. "Where… where am I?" He asked.

"Heh, you're pretty stupid if you didn't know. You're in our base." Viper responded.

That was the one thing everyone in the world dreaded. Getting captured by a Viper was one of the worst things that could happen to you. No one knew what happened to you if you got caught by a Viper, mostly because they were never seen or heard from ever again.

Putata started to panic, he grabbed his head and began to breathe heavily, sitting down. He heard Viper give an annoyed sigh, and Viper's audible footsteps walked away, fading. Putata finally started to get his breathing under control. He stood up again and looked out the window. The world outside was still as shitty as ever.

Putata was about to sit down again when he heard the door behind him open and close. He turned his head, and found a Viper behind him. He knew it was a different one, but almost all Vipers looked the same, which they considered 'racist'. Viper walked towards him, Putata not daring to turn his whole body around. When Viper was close enough, they grabbed Putata's hands and tied them above the Keronian's head.

"H-hey! What are you-" Putata was about to ask right before his vision went black and something was stuffed in his mouth to prevent him from speaking. He felt Viper press against his back and felt the other's hand on his side, slowly sliding down, giving a bad feeling.

Viper began saying things to him, things that made Putata uncomfortable. He then felt Viper's hand on his lower half, just a little below the front of his waist, and began to rub him there. He shook his head and made a sound that sounded like he was trying to say '_No!' _before he felt something circular on the side of his head, and heard Viper say, "If you try to resist, I'll shoot. Understand?" Putata nodded his head, not wanting to get shot. "Good~."

Putata knew what was going to happen next wasn't going to be good.

It sickened her.

It sickened her how every time Vipers captured someone, they did the most horrible act anyone could do. She watched from the vent above, how one of the Vipers touched the new prisoner, a yellow Keronian with a strange looking hat. The Keronian had attempted to resist, before Viper had pointed his arm gun to their head and threatened to shoot him. They always did that.

It absolutely sickened her.

She hated violence, war, anything that had to do with hurting someone. She was considered an outcast, but she didn't let the years of abuse change her. She vowed she would help any injuries the prisoners got while in there.

She watched this many times, Vipers captured someone, they tied the prisoner's hands and blindfolded and gagged them, they disgustingly assaulted them, then left. She saw shiny tears slide down the yellow Keronian's face as the disgusting scene unfolded. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Viper stopped, the Keronian falling to the floor, unlocked the chains holding the crying Keronian's feet to the floor, untied their hands, ungagged and unblindfolded them, and left, leaving them lying there.

When Viper left, she opened the vent grate and jumped down. She tapped him, whispering, "Hey, are you OK?"

When he opened his eyes, he freaked out and back up to the wall right behind him. "N-no! Stay away!"

"Hey! Hey! It's okay, it's okay!" She responded, trying to show she wasn't a threat.

"What do you want with me, Viper?!" He yelled out.

She responded calmly, doing her best to show she wanted to help him, "Calm down now, I am not going to hurt you. I just want to help you." Viper said, taking small and slow steps toward him.

"Y-you're not… going to hurt me?" He said.

"No." Viper replied. Before he could say anything else, Viper took his hand and entered a door that was right beside him.

It was a bathroom.

There was a bathtub, a stall used for showering, a sink, a toilet, and mirror that doubled as a cabinet.

Viper walked the Keronian towards the bathtub, and began running warm water. When the bathtub was full, the other got in, stopping for a second before lowering himself in the water. Viper walked to the mirror cabinet and opened it. There were some medicine supplies, like bandages. She reached for a bottle that held something unidentifiable in it. She picked one out of the bottle and placed it in the water.

"So, what's your name?" She asked.

"My name is Putata." He replied.

"How'd you get caught?" She asked.

"I was searching for items with a group, then I found where me and my family used to live, and I guess I got kidnapped." Putata responded. He sighed and sank until his head was the only thing above water. Viper got behind him and began to massage his shoulders with the one hand she had.

"...Why are you helping me?" He suddenly asked.

Viper was used to this question, she had been asked it many times, "I hate when someone gets hurt, so I've been helping the prisoners, each and every one of them. And if you're wondering how I got in there, I've been living in the vents for years!"

Putata only nodded and gave an 'okay'. Then he asked, "What'd you put in the water?"

"A nano bot that helps with physical pain and wounds." She responded, still massaging his shoulder. Viper then stopped, walked to the door, and looked out of it. There was white stuff on the ground, which made her gag, even though she had seen it many times before. She walked back in the bathroom, got some toilet paper, got it wet, and cleaned the stuff up. She then walked back in the bathroom, threw away the toilet paper, drained the bathtub, and dried off Putata. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, probably feeling sleepy from the bath and massage.

She put him on the bed, where he curled into an almost ball, trying to get comfortable. She looked at him, he looked so innocent. As she rubbed his covered arm, she said, "Get ready for Hell tomorrow, Putata. They'll try to break you, but don't let them do that. Stay strong, and believe someone'll rescue you, even if it's impossible. Believe that you'll get out someday, because you will."

She jumped up to the vent she came from, giving one last silent look at Putata, before leaving as she heard a scream of pain. "Duty calls." She said as she crawled away.

For some reason, she felt as if Putata would help create the army that would promise the downfall of her species reign.


End file.
